caraca vs careta, What's the Difference?

Which to use

“caraca” is an intj and “careta” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#38,169
“caraca” frequency rank: #23,598
“careta” frequency rank: 61767
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	caraca	careta
Definition	expressa admiração, espanto; insatisfação, repreensão	não drogado ou alcoolizado; sóbrio

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set caraca and careta apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

6 ch

caraca

6 ch

careta

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: caraca is /ka.ˈɾa.kɐ/ while careta is /kɐ.ˈɾe.tɐ/. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (intj vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 61767, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

caraca is recorded at frequency rank #38,169, classified as anintj, pronounced /ka.ˈɾa.kɐ/. careta is at rank #23,598, tagged as anoun, pronounced /kɐ.ˈɾe.tɐ/.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 61767, this pair ranks #6,970 of 75,631 scored Portuguese confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of caraca vs careta

Shared letters: acr. Private to "caraca": -. Private to "careta": et.

"caraca" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV · "careta" · 6 letters · shape CVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

caraca ← acraca · caarca · caraac · caracca · carcaa · carraca · ccaraca · craaca
careta ← careat · caretta · cartea · ccareta · craeta

Frequency comparison

caraca#38,169

careta#23,598

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "caraca" and "careta" be used interchangeably?

No - they are not even the same part of speech. "caraca" is an intj and "careta" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.

Which is more common, "caraca" or "careta"?

"careta" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #23,598 in our Portuguese list, against #38,169 for "caraca". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Remembering caraca vs careta

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

Check the role first: if you need an intj, it's “caraca”; for a noun, it's “careta”.
See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “caraca” entry
Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable